Quotes by Director | Beyond Motive 59/67

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Quotes by Director

"Don't give me any money, don't give me any people, but give freedom, and I'll give you a movie that looks gigantic."

"Don't give me any money, don't give me any people, but give freedom, and I'll give you a movie that looks gigantic."

Robert Rodriguez, American Director

Money, People, Freedom

27

"You make the movie through the cinematography - it sounds quite a simple idea, but it was like a huge revelation to me."

"You make the movie through the cinematography - it sounds quite a simple idea, but it was like a huge revelation to me."

Nicolas Roeg, English Director

Creativity, Idea

27

"You start as an audience member and create a world you're interested in, and then you move into the telling of those stories, bringing what has interested you as an audience member."

"You start as an audience member and create a world you're interested in, and then you move into the telling of those stories, bringing what has interested you as an audience member."

Neil LaBute, American Director

27

"I had no idea that it was gonna take off the way it did. I thought we made a good movie."

"I had no idea that it was gonna take off the way it did. I thought we made a good movie."

Morgan Spurlock, American Director

27

"Clinton used to like to get out of the White House a lot. He would take night trips to McDonald's, and stuff like that. I think he wanted to get out of the house."

"Clinton used to like to get out of the White House a lot. He would take night trips to McDonald's, and stuff like that. I think he wanted to get out of the house."

Paul Thomas Anderson, American Director

27

"Comedy just pokes at problems, rarely confronts them squarely. Drama is like a plate of meat and potatoes, comedy is rather the dessert, a bit like meringue."

"Comedy just pokes at problems, rarely confronts them squarely. Drama is like a plate of meat and potatoes, comedy is rather the dessert, a bit like meringue."

Woody Allen, American Director

Comedy, Drama, Problems

27

"Tim Burton is underrated. I loved Big Fish, loved that movie, think it's the best movie of the year, hands down. Really impressed with that."

"Tim Burton is underrated. I loved Big Fish, loved that movie, think it's the best movie of the year, hands down. Really impressed with that."

David Zucker, American Director

27

"So I used formal techniques to make the film more perceptive emotionally."

"So I used formal techniques to make the film more perceptive emotionally."

Alain Resnais, French Director

27

"Some artists shrink from self-awareness, fearing that it will destroy their unique gifts and even their desire to create. The truth of the matter is quite opposite."

"Some artists shrink from self-awareness, fearing that it will destroy their unique gifts and even their desire to create. The truth of the matter is quite opposite."

James Broughton, American Director

Truth, Artists, Desire, Gifts

27

"As a filmmaker you get typecast just as much as an actor does, so I'm trapped in a genre that I love, but I'm trapped in it!"

"As a filmmaker you get typecast just as much as an actor does, so I'm trapped in a genre that I love, but I'm trapped in it!"

George A. Romero, American Director

27

"I gave my life to the Group Theatre, because in it I'm building something for myself. What I build, I am."

"I gave my life to the Group Theatre, because in it I'm building something for myself. What I build, I am."

Elia Kazan, American Director

Life, Building, Theatre

27

"Luck, I never looked to make difficult movies on purpose. You make the films you can make."

"Luck, I never looked to make difficult movies on purpose. You make the films you can make."

Alain Resnais, French Director

Movies, Purpose, Luck

27

"Television is like the invention of indoor plumbing. It didn't change people's habits. It just kept them inside the house."

"Television is like the invention of indoor plumbing. It didn't change people's habits. It just kept them inside the house."

Alfred Hitchcock, English Director

Change, People, Habits, Invention

27

"To you I'm an atheist; to God, I'm the Loyal Opposition."

"To you I'm an atheist; to God, I'm the Loyal Opposition."

Woody Allen, American Director

God, Opposition

27

"Right now it's only a notion, but I think I can get the money to make it into a concept, and later turn it into an idea."

"Right now it's only a notion, but I think I can get the money to make it into a concept, and later turn it into an idea."

Woody Allen, American Director

Money, Idea, Now, Right

27

"There are a lot of things I can take, and a few that I can't. What I can't take is when my older brother, who's everything that I want to be, starts losing faith in things. I saw that look in your eyes last night. I don't ever want to see that look in your eyes again."

"There are a lot of things I can take, and a few that I can't. What I can't take is when my older brother, who's everything that I want to be, starts losing faith in things. I saw that look in your eyes last night. I don't ever want to see that look in your eyes again."

M. Night Shyamalan, American Director

Faith, Brother, Eyes, Losing

27

"Similar to the telescope or the telephone, television enables us to see or hear things we never dreamed of. When you look at the details, a concrete scene between people is really something incredibly unlikely, something subtle that requires extended description."

"Similar to the telescope or the telephone, television enables us to see or hear things we never dreamed of. When you look at the details, a concrete scene between people is really something incredibly unlikely, something subtle that requires extended description."

Alexander Kluge, German Director

People, Television

27

"It's good that they've seen it, but how can I be satisfied after working for two years making a film which I hope will make a difference, when the government sees the film and does nothing about it?"

"It's good that they've seen it, but how can I be satisfied after working for two years making a film which I hope will make a difference, when the government sees the film and does nothing about it?"

Mathieu Kassovitz, French Director

Government, Hope, Difference, Film

27

"People have perhaps gotten to the point where for the most part movies are a just bit of escape."

"People have perhaps gotten to the point where for the most part movies are a just bit of escape."

Neil LaBute, American Director

27

"Maybe it is worth investigating the unknown, if only because the very feeling of not knowing is a painful one."

"Maybe it is worth investigating the unknown, if only because the very feeling of not knowing is a painful one."

Krzysztof Kieslowski, Polish Director

Emotional, Feeling, Worth

27

"A director makes only one movie in his life. Then he breaks it into pieces and makes it again."

"A director makes only one movie in his life. Then he breaks it into pieces and makes it again."

Jean Renoir, French Director

27

"Film is not an easy occupation. There's a lot of occupations that are difficult and film is one of them."

"Film is not an easy occupation. There's a lot of occupations that are difficult and film is one of them."

George Lucas, American Director

Film, Occupation, Occupations

27

"If you can't fully believe in your ideas, it very quickly communicates to a group of actors who need something to hold onto. They need to believe that whatever criticism, whatever comment is received, is meant."

"If you can't fully believe in your ideas, it very quickly communicates to a group of actors who need something to hold onto. They need to believe that whatever criticism, whatever comment is received, is meant."

Trevor Nunn, English Director

Creativity, Ideas, Actors, Criticism

27

"Sitting in this chair, my recommendation would carry too much weight."

"Sitting in this chair, my recommendation would carry too much weight."

Michael Ritchie, American Director

Responsibility, Weight

27

"I've always been fascinated by the way that children and animals suffer stoically in a way that I don't think adults do."

"I've always been fascinated by the way that children and animals suffer stoically in a way that I don't think adults do."

Rebecca Miller, American Director

Animals, Children

27

"We took Beowulf, the epic poem in Old English, and put it right together with John Gardner's contemporary retelling. If you bring it into today, we really feel that it has something very fresh to say now."

"We took Beowulf, the epic poem in Old English, and put it right together with John Gardner's contemporary retelling. If you bring it into today, we really feel that it has something very fresh to say now."

Julie Taymor, American Director

Writing, English, Now, Old, Right

27

"What I look for in a script is something that challenges me, something that breaks new ground, something that allows me to flex my director muscle. You have got to think fast in this business, you've got to keep reinventing yourself to stay on top."

"What I look for in a script is something that challenges me, something that breaks new ground, something that allows me to flex my director muscle. You have got to think fast in this business, you've got to keep reinventing yourself to stay on top."

Michael Bay, American Director

Business, Reinventing

27

"But you know, there's always a danger nowadays that films are gonna be brought up to Canada for budget reasons. And that's something that really concerns me."

"But you know, there's always a danger nowadays that films are gonna be brought up to Canada for budget reasons. And that's something that really concerns me."

Philip Kaufman, American Director

Movies, Canada, Danger

27

"This is the first time in 10 years I don't know what I'm doing next, and I'm rather enjoying it. Soon I'll be climbing the walls no doubt, but right now, it's not clear, I'm just enjoying the freedom."

"This is the first time in 10 years I don't know what I'm doing next, and I'm rather enjoying it. Soon I'll be climbing the walls no doubt, but right now, it's not clear, I'm just enjoying the freedom."

Sam Mendes, British Director

Time, Doubt, First, Freedom

27

"It's a very slow process - two steps forward, one step back - but I'm inching in the right direction."

"It's a very slow process - two steps forward, one step back - but I'm inching in the right direction."

Rob Reiner, American Director

Direction, Right

27

"Hood films now are made by studios and have nothing to do with the reality they supposedly represent."

"Hood films now are made by studios and have nothing to do with the reality they supposedly represent."

Mathieu Kassovitz, French Director

Nothing, Now, Reality

27

"There are so many factors when you think of your own films. You think of the people you worked on it with, and somehow forget the movie. You can't forgive the movie for a long time. It takes a few years to look at it with any objectivity and forgive its flaws."

"There are so many factors when you think of your own films. You think of the people you worked on it with, and somehow forget the movie. You can't forgive the movie for a long time. It takes a few years to look at it with any objectivity and forgive its flaws."

George A. Romero, American Director

Time, People, Flaws, Forget

27

"I like writing because you can make things happen and turn out the way they never do in real life."

"I like writing because you can make things happen and turn out the way they never do in real life."

Rob Reiner, American Director

27

"I think that will be a lot of fun for audiences to get the same stream of consciousness that was going through my head at the time. It was very exciting to suddenly recall what I was feeling at the time."

"I think that will be a lot of fun for audiences to get the same stream of consciousness that was going through my head at the time. It was very exciting to suddenly recall what I was feeling at the time."

Roland Joffe, English Director

Time, Audiences, Consciousness, Feeling

27

"In a movie you have all these logistical problems; all these practical problems. But you're also going to have people come who can do things that you can't do, and you get to direct their talents."

"In a movie you have all these logistical problems; all these practical problems. But you're also going to have people come who can do things that you can't do, and you get to direct their talents."

John Sayles, American Director

People, Problems

27

"I followed him at the time and thought he was hysterical. He was the first serial killer, a new kettle of fish, because we didn't have the detection techniques in those days."

"I followed him at the time and thought he was hysterical. He was the first serial killer, a new kettle of fish, because we didn't have the detection techniques in those days."

Matthew Bright, American Director

Time, Thought, First, Fish

27

"We were working with this lousy print and it just wasn't going to be good enough. I said that we should get the original negative and do it from that. Well, a couple guys pointed out that the negative was locked up over at Deluxe."

"We were working with this lousy print and it just wasn't going to be good enough. I said that we should get the original negative and do it from that. Well, a couple guys pointed out that the negative was locked up over at Deluxe."

David Fincher, American Director

27

"I make movies just as painters paint: I work where I can."

"I make movies just as painters paint: I work where I can."

Jean-Jacques Annaud, French Director

27

"In the past I've made movies that were pretty universally liked. You can't really hate them. You can discard them, but you can't really hate them."

"In the past I've made movies that were pretty universally liked. You can't really hate them. You can discard them, but you can't really hate them."

Ang Lee, Chinese Director

Movies, Hate, Past, Pretty

27

"Man is a genius when he is dreaming."

"Man is a genius when he is dreaming."

Akira Kurosawa, Japanese Director

27

"Directing her was like directing Lassie. You need 14 takes to get each one of them right."

"Directing her was like directing Lassie. You need 14 takes to get each one of them right."

Otto Preminger, Austrian Director

Entertainment, Right

27

"We tend to do period stuff because it helps make it one step removed from boring everyday reality."

"We tend to do period stuff because it helps make it one step removed from boring everyday reality."

Ethan Coen, American Director

27

"Colombian humor is very black, very sarcastic."

"Colombian humor is very black, very sarcastic."

Barbet Schroeder, French Director

Humor, Sarcastic

27

"I'm not a Hollywood basher because enough good movies come out of the Hollywood system every year to justify its existence, without any apologies."

"I'm not a Hollywood basher because enough good movies come out of the Hollywood system every year to justify its existence, without any apologies."

Quentin Tarantino, American Director

Movies, Apologies, Existence, Hollywood

27

"It's easier for me to get three times the amount of money I really want."

"It's easier for me to get three times the amount of money I really want."

Bill Forsyth, Scottish Director

27

"I like to act. I work for scale. I don't have an acting agent. I'm in the book."

"I like to act. I work for scale. I don't have an acting agent. I'm in the book."

John Sayles, American Director

Work, Act, Acting

27

"When I grow up, I still want to be a director."

"When I grow up, I still want to be a director."

Steven Spielberg, American Director

27

"When I was thinking about The Lion King, I said, we have to do what theater does best. What theater does best is to be abstract and not to do literal reality."

"When I was thinking about The Lion King, I said, we have to do what theater does best. What theater does best is to be abstract and not to do literal reality."

Julie Taymor, American Director

Reality, Theater, Thinking

27

"I don't use composers. I research music the way I research the photographs or the facts in my scripts."

"I don't use composers. I research music the way I research the photographs or the facts in my scripts."

Ken Burns, American Director

Music, Composers, Facts, Research

27

"I made it about a three-day weekend so people wouldn't have to change their clothes a lot. We didn't have an art department; we didn't have a make-up department."

"I made it about a three-day weekend so people wouldn't have to change their clothes a lot. We didn't have an art department; we didn't have a make-up department."

John Sayles, American Director

Art, Change, People, Clothes

27

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